NEW NETWORKS INSTITUTE Tauzin-Dingell Clearinghouse Contact: Bruce Kushnick or Miranda Berner 212-777-5418, News@newnetworks.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE REP. BILLY TAUZIN SHOULD BE RECUSED FROM REGULATING TELECOMMUNICATIONS. PROPOSED TAUZIN-DINGELL BILL IS CORPORATE WELFARE, DESIGNED TO HELP FOUR VERY LARGE BELL PHONE COMPANIES New York - As America debates the campaign finance issues, New Networks Institute (NNI) believes that the discussion needs to include not just the amounts of money that a political party or individual can receive, but also the direct conflict-of-interest various Senators and Congressmen have from taking money and then creating or voting on critical legislation that directly benefits the money-givers. "Representative Billy Tauzin (R-LA) should be recused from regulating telecommunications because of his obvious conflicts of interests with the Bell companies, including BellSouth (as well as Verizon, SBC and Qwest). As chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee, he is in a position to control the agenda for America's telecommunications," stated Bruce Kushnick, Executive Director of New Networks Institute. "He is a textbook definition of why campaign finance reform is necessary." added Kushnick. Tauzin's relationships with the Bells have been documented by numerous sources. His current counsel to the Commerce Committee, Jessica Wallace, worked for Bell clients, His son, Billy Tauzin, III is a state lobbyist for BellSouth in Louisiana, Many of his staffers have come to him from Bell/ telecom lobbying jobs. He flies on the Bells' corporate jets and goes on trips with their executives. Through events that Tauzin has organized, he has raised millions of dollars from the Bells for himself and for the GOP. Most recently, BellSouth and others Bells helped to sponsor Tauzin's Mardi Gras party at Dodger Stadium - cost: $400,000. Tauzin's voting record clearly shows no deviation from the Bell's agenda at the expense of laws that would protect their customers and competitors. The actions taken by Tauzin have given the Bells more money, more power, less scrutiny, and even protection from investigations. Tauzin has consistently tried to allow the Bells into long distance, even though their networks are not open to competition, which is a prerequisite, Tauzin has been committed to passing bills that would allow the Bells to simply stop paying billions owed to competitive companies (known in the industry as "reciprocal compensation", Tauzin tried to block the release of FCC audits of the Bells which showed $5 billion dollars of missing network equipment, Tauzin has not introduced one bill that would have lowered local Bell charges to customers (or competitors) or fixed any of the current DSL issues caused by the Bells. Tauzin-Dingell - A new corporate welfare relief bill that helps four large companies. The worst example of this flagrant help to the Bells is the eminent introduction of "Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act" in Tauzin's Commerce Committee, and sponsored by Tauzin and Congress Dingell. The premise of the bill is to speed up the deployment of advanced networks by "deregulating" the Bells. To read last year's version of the bill and related material see http://techlawjournal.com/telecom/19990705.htm "This bill gives the Bells more money, more power, less scrutiny, and even protection from investigations. The proposed bill would block competitors from using the networks and will raise customer Internet rates. And it doesn't fix any of the current advanced network or competitor issues," states Kushnick. NNI published research has documented these issues: See: http://www.newnetworks.com/tauzin-dingell.htm The Bells already received massive financial incentives to deliver advanced networks - but instead charged customers over $50 billion in added fees, The Bell's profits are 200% above most American companies in 2000, according to Business Week's Corporate Scoreboard, Horror stories and law suits abound about the Bell's handling of current DSL, Hundreds of competitors, ISPs and competitive local phone companies (CLECs) have been living on life support because of the sub-standard customer services the Bells have been supplying. "This bill is a clear indication of why Congressman Billy Tauzin should be recused from telecommunications issues. There is a big difference of being a representative of the people vs. a champion of corporations that you are supposed to be regulating. It's the dirty little secret of campaign finance reform that needs to be immediately addressed," added Miranda Berner, Director of External Affairs for NNI. To read a more about the issues surrounding Tauzin and Bells, and about Tauzin-Dingell visit the New Networks web site at: http://www.newnetworks.com ####